John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1480

On occasions, the Palatines to America chapter meetings will have only one speaker.  That was the case last Saturday when the speaker was Dr. Helmut Schmahl, of the Department of History at the University of Mainz.  Dr. Schmahl was in the US doing some work at the University of Wisconsin.  His personal experience includes twenty years of genealogical research, especially with the lesser known sources of information.

One of Dr. Schmahl's presentations included his list of the ten most important things to remember about doing research in family history in Germany.  I think that I violate nothing by repeating some of them for you.  You will not have the interesting examples and humor that he added to his comments.

  1. Do Your Homework in America Before You Cross the Atlantic. Do every bit as much as you can at home because if you do not, you will be wasting time and money in Germany.  If you plan on learning about the village from where you ancestors came, be sure you have the right village.  Letters in advance will help tremendously if you expect to meet and to talk to someone who might have information.

  2. If You Do Not Know the Hometown of Your Ancestor, Be Creative. Do you know other people who are associated with your ancestor?  Can you pinpoint their sources?  Have you used the telephone book to see where names similar to your ancestor are located?

  3. Plan Your Trip Before Going to Germany. Time is precious on the road.  Do you know how you will be using your time?  Have you identified the places where you might have the highest return?  Do you know when the archives, city halls, and churches will be open?  Don't plan on doing any office research on Sunday.

  4. You Can Never Learn Enough About German History. Why are there gaps in the church books?  Where might you ancestors have come from before the time that you found them?  When did the Huguenots come into Germany?  When did people come from Switzerland?  Where did these people tend to settle?

  5. There Is Probably More Than One Place Which Can Be Helpful. There are state archives, church archives, city archives, and private resources.  Remember that 90% of the church records have been filmed and are available in the U.S.  You can do that research here.  Of the civil records, and there are many, the Mormons have hardly filmed any.  All of these old records are handwritten in the old script.  Germans under the age of 60, which is the age of most civil workers, cannot read the old script.  They may know Germany but they may have difficulty in reading the old script.

We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.